The Seated Artist

The sculpture seen below has featured in other blog posts; it was a final piece in my second year and is titled Disability Erased.

As briefly mentioned in my pecha kucha blog post, this was a 3D printed version of myself that didn’t capture all of the detail in my wheelchair. I had always intended to use this model for photographing difficult terrain and daily challenges, but ran out of time due to technical issues. I was quite disheartened by the lack of information captured by the 3D scanner; it couldn’t cope with the shiny surfaces which didn’t bode well – in effect it erased a part of me. Yet, an Alice without her wheelchair is not complete. Like the scanner, it seems society would prefer me without it.

While organising the pages for the enlarged image on the floor of my studio, I started putting them on the wall, one-by-one, with myself at the centre; this left a gap where my image should have been in the pages on the floor (see photo below).

Looking at this reminded me of the original figure and how my disability was erased. There are parallels with this and the missing page which both mirror the way society is not built to cope with disability.  This happy accident left me thinking about how I could purposefully alter the next image to displace myself from the scene.

I really like how this transforms the work, shifting both it’s meaning and encouraging the viewer to find deeper meaning in the piece.

I love the composition of my studio wall and how harmonious the series is in terms of the colours and textures.  This harmony is in opposition to the tension I experience when I travel through the locations featured.  The irony that the yellow and black colours that dominate in these works, happen also to be the colours of the university brand, is not lost on me.

Continuing my experiments in scale, I’ve been going over some of my photographs of Little Alice In The Landscape. Although I had first indended for these works to be supplementary, after taking a second look at them I have decided to make a couple of them final pieces.

One of my favorite photos is this one of little 3D printed Alice facing a massive speed bump (see image below).

I feel like this is a really powerful image, and highlights how hard an obstacle a speed bump is for me. A speed bump is really easy just to step over but to self propel across is a different matter. Its a HUGE struggle and one that causes me a lot of pain too.

To really enhance this image, I  decided to blow it up using a program called Rasterbater. I had used this technique in my first year, and thought that this would be the perfect program to enlarge the accessibility problems I face.

I love seeing this work blown up. It feels monumental. I love the layers and how I have experimented with scale. First by making myself tiny, secondly by photographing the landscape from a low angle making it look huge; and lastly by enlarging the small photo to be larger than life. I would love to make this image even bigger until the small 3D model of myself becomes lifesize. Perhaps by doing this rather than me not fitting into the world, the world won’t fit in to my display.

Dear Reader,

Today I attemped to document the difficult terrain around campus. The ground surrounding the Arts Building (although easily over looked by the able bodied) is extremely difficult to navigate from a wheelchair. The ground is uneven with pot holes and dips disguised by the herringbone pattern of the brick.

Taking full advantage of reading week and the almost vacant building, I decided to finally do some photography. I tried to capture a few of the obstacles I must face each day, using my 3D printed little Alice.

I started by photographing the lift that has often broken down or gotten stuck (particularly last academic year). I also photographed the doors at the main entrance too, as they often don’t open (this is an onging problem).

I am very reliant on these means of access to get to my studio space.

I then moved to the outdoors and began documenting the outside difficulties.

Whilst documenting the outside, I noticed it was difficult to capture the undulations. Although I could clearly see each dip and crevice with my eyes, my camera seemed to flatten things out. I was left with a 2D representation of a 3D problem. After consulting with the technicians, I decided to try video. This was a good exercise as I am planning to delve further into this medium later in the year.

I started videoing the courtyard by holding my phone low to the ground as I was being pushed along. This was successful as it not only captured some of the bumps but it also picked up the sound really well. I then decided that I wanted to tackle some of the more uneven ground, but to avoid unnecessary pain, I taped my phone to the wheelchair and sat myself safely on a bench. My study support assistant then wheeled my chair about, taking in the rocky terrain as well as the speed bumps.

I had made little Alice with the full intention of capturing her like this last term but due to her taking so long to print and the difficulty capturing all the detail in her wheelchair I never got round to it. Its given me a bit of a creative rush being able to photograph my 3D printed self at last! I hope to make another version this academic year. This time I hope to be able to capture all of the detail in my wheelchair, as I don’t feel complete without it.

Dear Reader,

Today I practiced with a Kodak Luma 350 Projector. I experimented with my video from last semester hoping to find interesing ways to project my work.

I tried multiple ways of projecting, on my work, my wheelchair, and even on myself too.

I started out by projecting on a table in the art studio. I used my 3D printed version of myself to project onto, this cast a shadow in the projected image. I loved how I could insert myself back into the landscape by using shadows; making myself larger than life.

I then started unsing my wheelchair as a platform to project onto, creating one of my favorite images:

I really loved how this image turned out. I love how the 3D printed me is over exposed and easily over looked, drawing the attention to the shadow it casts. The shadow of myself looks like its about to self propel up an inclining hill, with the irony of my enlarged feet looming in the back ground. I can feel a sense of dread when I look at this photograph. I would like to further expand projecting into a landscape.

I have found that I really enjoyed playing with the perspective and scale.

I was fortunate enough to take my projection experimentation to the display space, where I could continue this work in a room without windows.  These are a couple of the images produced in the space:

I was was really pleased with how the images turned out in this space. The difference in light made such an impact on the final out come. I love the sharpness and the the stark contrast in colour. I particularly love the pictures taken of the wheelchair in this space and how the picture was captured at an upwards angle. As a wheelchair user I am always looked down upon, so it was almost cathartic to view my chair with a sense of grandure.

Going forward I would like to take this portable projector outside (on a day when its not raining) to project my mini film onto the places I struggle to navigate around campus. I am really looking forward to projecting up hill and watching the film stretch out across the concrete.

I hope to borrow a more robust projector at somepoint in the near future so that I may have it suspended. When my final film is completed I would love to have it projected onto the floor. I am interested in showcasing my work this way for several reasons:

• I like the symbolism of the viewer looking down on the art and those using wheelchairs in my video
• I want to document the viewers responses:
  • Would they even notice the work? 
  • Will they stop to look if its on the floor, would they react differently if it was on the wall? 
  • Would people feel comfortable walking over the art? Or will they step around it? 
  • Will they be viewers or participants? Will they engage with the work positively or negatively? 
  • Will the same viewer respond differently over time?

Dear Reader,

Today I gave a pecha kucha presentation about my art practice starting with my second year to now. Pecha kucha is a presentation format in which you have 20 seconds per slide for 20 slides to talk about your given topic in a snappy manner.

In my presentation I discussed how my practice has changed quite radically since last summer. I had initially wanted my art practice to be about environmental concerns. I wanted to make art that promotes change as I believe art is powerful and can make a difference. Due to there being so much support for the cute and cuddly endangered mammals I turned my interests towards the overlooked mini beasts. I wanted to raise awareness through my work as insects play a vital part in our ecosystem.

I made a lot of my own materials during the first term, including handmade paper made from junk mail and unnecessary doctor’s letters; and my own deckle and mould from a recycled screen printing frame. Due to my work being printed onto recycled doctor’s letters, it drew the viewer’s attention to the materiality of the work instead of what was printed onto it. My disability and health became the focus rather than the plight of the mini beasts.

This was a big changing point and led me to notice how the plight of the minibeasts is not too dissimilar to the struggles of disablement.  We both live in an environment that isn’t adapted to us.  To explore these similarities I started making small scale graphics that I posted around the university with QR codes to enlighten people.

After watching a video by Greenpeace showcasing ants protesting, I was inspired to have the mini beasts protest for me, as I did for them. Using toy insects I created staged protests for accessibility on campus. The insects held up placards protesting for equal rights. I called this protest the Matchstick March (due to the placards being made from matchsticks).

In the second term of last year, I decided to continue with these small scale protests and 3D print myself. I did this so that I could photograph a small scale version of myself facing the large scale obstacles I must over come each day. By the model me being so small I feel like it can really put into perspective how hard the day to day challenges of a wheelchair user can be. However, as I had nver done 3D printing before I didn’t anticipate two things; firstly, how long it would take to render and print myself and secondly how much the scanner would struggle to capture my wheelchair. My 3D printed Alice sadly looked like an empty version of myself with most of my wheelchair missing from the final peice. I named this work Disability Erased. 

Since the 3D print of myself took so long, i began creating other works of art. I first painted some watercolour peices inspired by Kafka’s Metamorphosis. I was stricken by the work ‘Vermin’, this led me to create a series by the same name. I painted different disability aids with their insect counterpart, such as a wheelchair user plagued by spiders legs. I liked these works so much that I ended up sculpting the androgynous wheelchair user plagued by the spiders legs.  I wanted to focuas my attentions to how disablement is veiwed in society, that much like the mini beasts I started with, people can feel squeamish and uncomfortable around the disabled. This work was a huge success and I look forward to doing more sculpture in the future.

The othe project I worked on was a short video peice of me navigating the university hallway from my wheelchair. This was quite a fun and inventing video as I intended to use it as an invitation. It is my mission to invite students and faculty alike to push their perspectives and try navigating the world from a wheelchair. I wish to further educate and promote change for accessibility on campus. I also wish to record an abled bodied persons potential stuggle to an inaccessible path.

Going forward, I hope to continue to explore disablement and the societal and social stigmas that come with it.  I have ideas for a number of works that play with scale to challenge how people view disability.

I feel that my identity is concealed by my chair; when you look at my you see my disability before you see anything else.  For most, the chair is all they’ll ever see.